Deaths Temptress
by Of Soul Fire
Summary: Liebe has always had a fascination with death, even when disease spread and presented a gruesome death that none could escape, her fascination never left her. She attended Prince Prospero's neverending party, away from the disease. There she meets a strange man, who she is strangely attracted to. Who is this man, and why does he stay in the room of death? (Masque of Red Death Fic)
1. Chapter 1 - Entrance

**My first Fanfiction ever... Mind you this originally started out as an assignment, write a narrative from the perspective of a guest in attendance at Prince Prospero's ball in Edgar Allen Poe's Masque of the Red Death... When I heard that my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. So many ideas just came to me and it was a bit over whelming.**

**xD Mind you a lot of the characters that I put in this story are from Rp's that I part took in. Most of them are MY original characters that no matter what you think I did come up with on my own. The characters that are not mine are Vincent, Gilgamesh and Prince Prospero. **

**You "might" recognize Gilgamesh from the Anime Fate/Stay Night, but that isn't where I got him from. I've never seen Fate, I only ever RP with persons who decided to make their own Gilgamesh. So yeah, that's where he came from.**

**There will probably be a few grammatical errors in the story. Don't get me wrong, I try like hell to spell things correctly, but they tend to slip from my notice. I'm trying to fix my problem of making ridiculously long paragraphs (which may result in even more problems). But nonetheless I hope you enjoy this story, I don't think I've ever dedicated so much time to a piece of writing in my LIFE O_o**

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**Deaths Temptress**

**Chapter 1 Entrance**

A single strand of blonde hair blew into my face; I frowned and tucked the hair behind my ear. My long blond hair was hidden beneath a cloak, to protect it from the wind that was whipping around like mad. My red eyes stayed fixed to the ground staring at the shoes that my sister had so painstakingly picked out. They then moved up her white dress to look at her face.

My sister is beautiful, like I am, but in a slightly different way. Her hair is a silvery almost white blonde where mine glows as a vibrant gold; I often think that it should be the other way around based upon out varied dispositions.

Her eyes are a lighter red than mine, and always sparkle with innocence, while mine are a deep maroon that shimmers with an eternal longing. Her voice which always rings out high and full of energy snapped me out of my daze, and I sighed after hearing the brash comment that escaped her lips.

"Prince Prospero is such a strange man. His house is so bizarre!" I turned to my sister throwing her a harsh glare, hissing my response.

"Sh, don't be so rude! If he hears you he might be insulted and throw you out to suffer the Red Death!" At my reprimand she clamped her mouth shut, I sighed again.

My sister Leben has always been a very impulsive young thing, with an un-yielding determination and innocence that is rivaled by no other. Our brother Laune whom was standing right behind us was in contrast, calm and usually the one keeping Leben from insulting the wrong person and as a result being hung from a chandelier.

Laune being the good brother that he is, set his hand on Leben's head using the nickname that he had lovingly given the silver-haired girl a long time ago. "Don't worry Nachgiebig(un-yeilding); Liebe is just worried for you." He smiled gently at me and my nerves calmed.

I wanted to be mad at Laune for calming me like he's always been able to do, but I couldn't do it. My brother had a way about him, a calming, alluring air that you couldn't help but be drawn to. He looked so smug with his platinum blond hair and calming dark red eyes, I wanted to wipe that smirk off his face, but there was no besting this one.

**...**

With the turn of my head and one look up at the duke's home of which we stood in front of, I was reminded that we; the Tod's were invited to Prince Prospero's party. A masked ball that was sure to be wonderful, bizarre and even horrifying. The Prince had invited us to his party because of our close friendship with him, or in other words, he wanted three of his bizarre trinkets to be present at his ball.

Most people knew us as the "Death triplets" a name given to us in correspondence with our names. My name, Liebe Von Tod quite literally translates into "Love of Death"; Laune's translates into "Whim of Death", while Leben's translates into "Life from Death". Why our parent's named us such is beyond me, the names have brought us mostly grief, and not at all a little of it.

However our names somehow suit us perfectly, for example: I am always drawn to the end of things, mostly to places like cemeteries, hospitals, and funeral homes. It's a love of the end, the desire to be close to it, a morbid curiosity that baffles most.

My sister Leben however is always drawn to the beginnings of things, like the nursery wings of hospitals, the brand new buildings constructed, and to the neighbor's houses to play with their babies. She loves the brand new, the fresh, and because of that love she seemed to be eternally young. Among the Tod's the family of death, she emerges as life, "Life from Death" exactly as her name suggests.

Then there is Laune, he is something else entirely, mostly calm, never wants much, he enjoys the present and lives in the moment. However, his decisions hold much weight and if he wishes for something to happen, then we must follow his whim. He does not have a certain place that he is drawn to; however, he always avoids babies, the new, the fresh, the dead, and the exceedingly old.

The door of the duke's home suddenly swung open and Prince Prospero himself stood there in his bizarre splendor, staring down at the three trinkets he had invited to his party. He grinned and walked over with a stride to greet us. We bowed our heads deeply in respect. The prince took my hand kissing it lightly, then did the same to Leben, and shook Laune's hand.

"Welcome my friends, to the Masked Ball! Come, come! Do come inside, out of the cold!" The three of us were shuffled inside, to a borderline horrifying display, as the door slammed behind us I attempted to keep myself from balking at the sight.

There was blue everywhere in varying shades and hues. A magnificent tripod hearth caught my attention immediately, as the effect of its light gave everything a ghastly sight. I looked around at everything noting the oddity of it all, how bizarre.

My attention was soon drawn to all the masks, the arrays of different colors; blue, red, gold, silver, and even stained glass. The nobles in attendance hadn't been shy about showing their importance. I too felt a sense of pride, I had a crescent moon mask that was dotted with flecks of gold, and golden stars hanging from the tips of the crescent. Half of my mask covered my face, covering one eye and half of my mouth, the other side of my face bare.

Of course, this mask was in contrast with my sister's. A golden sun that shone with a radiance that could not be ignored. I had noted that as her nose and forehead were covered her mouth was uncovered, so that everyone could hear her speak. I giggled a little at the thought, Leben always had to talk.

My brother however, chose to don a simple black mask, one that covered only his eyes. Leben had tried to convince him to wear a mask that resembled a knight's helmet, but he shook his head and chose the simple mask.

**...**

I was a bit alarmed when I heard the door lock, and turned sharply to see that the Prince had locked the door. I frowned as he explained that he was protecting us, I was skeptical of his words, but nonetheless I still understood. Even my love of death would not compel me to leave the compounds of these walls; the red death was a painful grotesque death. I found it strangely alluring but I did not dare to touch it. I did not wish to die, which was rather ironic all things considered.

Letting those thoughts pass me by my attention turned back to the room, I looked at each odd ornament and the awkward pieces of furniture; all of which were varying shades of blue. It all oddly reminded me of Leben, how she loved beginnings. I concluded that Leben would be spending much of her time in this room. With one look in her direction I knew that I was right; she had already begun to dance gaily with a man of brown hair. I smiled gently, and began to wander around. I wanted to explore.

**...**

"Liebe, over here!"

I stopped to turn my head, Laune was gesturing for me to come with him into the next room. I stood still for a while staring at Laune, not for any particular reason then nodded at him and proceeded towards the door.

After stepping through the door I looked down the hall and frowned, it was very strange and had the quality of a maze. My head began to spin as I walked down the hall, but I found that it wasn't as maze like as I had come to believe, it was simply a sort of illusion.

Laune and I walked into the next room, and were assaulted by purple, an amazing amount of purple. I blinked hard, and looked again to see that my eyes were not playing tricks on me. At first glance it seemed as if very few were present in the room, but if you looked harder you would see that there was an amazing amount of people, in cloths that somehow matched the color of the walls and furniture.

Laune grinned at this room, enjoying the strange effect, while I grimaced. My eyes hurt, it looked to me as if the walls were shifting and rustling. I gripped Laune's hand and hurriedly began searching for the way out, bumping into a quite a few bodies along the way; it was extremely hard to navigate through this sea of bodies.

After stumbling past a _purple elephant_ fountain I found myself by the door. It too had been painted the same shade of purple as the wall, which made it difficult to find. I breathed in an exasperated sigh of relief that I had finally located the door, and quickly shuffled myself as well as a reluctant Laune through it.

The two of us rushed a room of green, and I felt myself relax instantly. It felt almost as if someone had tailored a room for me, or more specifically for people my age. I looked over at Laune and could simply tell that he too felt the same sense of belonging to the room as I did. I smiled brightly and spun around happily, grabbing Laune's hands, and began dancing with him.

We danced for a while before we were taken away by different partners; Laune had been taken away by Whitney Farreh a silver-haired beauty (one of the _many_ children that were in the Farreh family). The Farreh's were very close acquaintance of the Tod's. So close that we were often invited to family gatherings. At one time I had heard that our families were planning to join, but the talk had all dissolved into rumors, but by the adoring look in my brother's eyes as he danced with Whitney, I could tell how those rumors had started.

I on the other hand found myself being taken away by the second son of the Farreh family, a notorious and devilishly handsome playboy by the name Lexington Farreh (Lex for short). I knew Lex well; I had been one of the first girls he had charmed. In fact after charming me in the way that he did, he soon found that he enjoyed what he called "the sport" of courting. I had been so angry with him when he told me this, that I slapped him across the face and told him he was a pompous pig. However we made up soon after, as he is too good a friend for me to stay mad at him for long.

When he grasped my hand and spirited me away to dance he did so with a smile that would make most swoon, all the while making witty comments to make me laugh. We danced until the end of the song then broke apart, moving to go and mingle with the rest at the party. I moved to the wall, catching my breath from dancing so gaily, and smiled up at the ceiling. The green walls seemed to smile back at me and the chairs placed around the room offered to hold me up. But I didn't take those offers because I saw a dear friend, Lea Farreh, or as some of us still called her, Billy.


	2. Chapter 2 - Dear Friends

**OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG**

**I never actually thought I would make this story into chapters... Guess I was wrong.**

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**Chapter 2 Dear Friends**

I walked over to Billy smiling happily, and rested my hand gently on her shoulder. "It's so good to see you again, Billy!" I greeted, noticing how Billy jumped when my arm rested on her shoulder.

"Oh, Liebe how nice to see you!" She responded, returning the smile despite the fact that her mask was covering most of her mouth.

I continued. "I did not expect to see so many friends at this ball, is there anyone else I know that is here?" I asked, mostly just making small talk.

Billy nodded smiling brightly. "Lord Malekai, Princess Leliana, and Duchess Claudia are all here." Billy stated motioning to each of them as they were sitting in the room. Lord Malekai Van Collec or Malek as most called him was sitting on the sidelines. His brown hair was mussed slightly in what could be seen as an organized mess, his blue eyes watching one of the dancers. He had a cute face, one in which quite often subjected him to girls who simply wanted to pinch his cheeks and fuss over his hair, he didn't much like that and tried to avoid them at all costs.

Lord Malekai is also a man that is very easily startled. Some says that Malek can see spirits, which is believed to be the reason for his skittish behavior. I noticed that Malek had brought his servant with him, whom was a tall dark, and very handsome, with black hair and dark eyes that made me feel like I would burst into flames. I highly suspected however that Malek's servant Vincent was monopolizing all of Malek's attention, and manipulating the brown haired noble into doing things of questionable nature. My suspicions where confirmed when Vincent leaned over and whispered in Malek's ear with a look of a wolf in his eyes, which in turn cause Malek's cheeks to redden. It really was such a shame that the two handsome men were gay.

Billy and I giggled about the way that Vincent made Lord Malekai blush, quietly for a good while before I noticed that the Duchess Claudia had moved over to us; I smiled politely at her and then burst into laughter; of which Billy and Claudia joined in on.

Claudia Imonia Prexidante was the most scandalous woman in society, with her dark hair, red eyes and stunning beauty, she reigned almost supreme. However she is unmarried, which is frowned upon, especially for someone like Claudia. But the reason Claudia is unmarried is because most men were intimidated by this beautiful woman. That alone most of the time wouldn't keep men away, but what kept most men away was because Claudia is far cleverer than any of the scholars in the court combined, she could do anything any man can do with more grace, beauty and skill than anyone could ever dream of, and she knew this too. She flaunted this skill, which didn't bode well with the older and more traditional; and to make matters worse, whenever she was on a mission to get what she desired, she threw all caution to the wind and broke all of the rules along the way. If anyone dared to try and stop her, in the end they would be swept up in the excitement of Claudia's ventures and go along with it. As a result Claudia had just as many admirers as she did people who loathed her. I am one of the admirers. I love Claudia, she is good company, and while you are with her you feel as if you could fly.

"I see that you've noticed Lord Malekai." Claudia stated once we had calmed enough. "His servant Vincent has been doing that to the poor boy all night." Claudia said, causing the three of us to burst out into laughter once more.

"I can only imagine what he is saying!" Billy stated, making a scandalous hand gestures that warranted several hostile looks from other guests. After that the three of us formed a tight circle, whispering to one another the wild things that we thought they could be saying, until finally we tired of the subject. Having had enough of sitting in one place for so long, the three of us moved into the powder room, taking the masks from our faces and freshening up. We chatted with each other and helped each other fix our hair. We stayed in the powder room for the longest while, until Princess Leliana entered.

**...**

Princess Leliana Markim Yates is a well-respected Princess of a far off country that has both extremely cold and extremely hot climates. This country was first founded by amazons who worshipped and fought by the ways of their dragon god. You could see the proud warrior in the dragon Princess's gait. The way her long dark brown hair swayed behind her and her light brown eyes pierced us through the mask she wore. The mask on her face was in the visage of the Chinese dragon. Completely gold, the head resting over her right eye with its jaw open and forked tongue resting on her temple, its two arms circling halfway around her eye, its body snaking down her cheek then curving back up and wrapping around her ear. Its wings spread out and looked as if they would take off in flight at any moment. It was truly an intricate mask, but it didn't take away from the splendor of her outfit, the black and gold silk clinging to her body, accenting every curve, her long renaissance sleeves, the designs seemed to look like black fire flecked with gold cinders. A red silk ribbon was tied around her waist, as the top ended just below her bottom, where slightly baggy Chinese pants that covered her legs, simple flats graced her feet.

The three of us breathed in amazement at how such a simple outfit could be so beautiful. I held my breath a little longer than the other two when Leliana's gaze caught mine. However before I could even think to acknowledge the Amazonian princess Leliana turned to leave.

**...**

The first time that I heard the clock, I very nearly stopped breathing. The sound was amazing, it was beautiful; it touched my soul and elated me. I heard it and felt that I had to stop to drink it in, to let it fill me up. For a moment that eternal longing that always shimmered in my eyes was snuffed replaced with a profound sense of being complete. But after that sense of euphoria came a moment of complete understanding, I understood what the sound meant. Then the sound would stop, and I would forget what the sound meant, the longing would return, but also, I would feel rejuvenated, as if a need had been met and I would continue with what I had been doing before with a new vigor and purpose.

Over the course of time, with the passing of each day, each chime of that clock, I had explored the entirety of the duke's home. I had moved through all of the rooms, the orange had a mood about it that gave one hope, but also seemed to wave goodbye to the vibrancy of the rooms before, like someone passing their prime. The white room offered one clarity and understanding that there is much to do and truly not a lot of time to do it, it compelled you to take pause and reminisce about things you might wish to remember. The violet room its dark hue seemed to heed you to stop, to not go any further, to turn back and return to a room that you had already visited. It seemed almost like the end of the road, as if you could not go any further. Finally there was the black room, the room that when the night fell no one dared to enter. I had entered the room and dared to sit in one of the chairs, to listen to the protest of the strange clock that leaned against the wall warily. I had been one of the brave ones, but I had not been the only one. The first time that I had entered the room, a man had been standing next to the clock reaching out a hand almost as if he dared to touch it. When I saw his hand approaching the clock an unexplainable sense of panic came over me.

"Sir…" I cried out, and he would turn his head pulling his hand back sharply as if he had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

The man's hair was just as vibrant a gold as mine and his eyes were a red that seemed to burn with madness and mischief. He had an arrogant air about him that brought out my own, and the mask that he wore seemed to match that arrogance perfectly, he stirred up the desire that I had always kept tightly contained in a small box and shook the box furiously. So when he strode over to me so suddenly, I couldn't help but to stand up tall and defiantly to meet his gaze.

The two of us stared at each other, the air around us fizzled and cracked, and the clock behind us ceased its incessant protests to watch us in amusement. A small drop of sweat slid down my cheek and my bravado faltered. The man grinned at this, showing a row of gleaming white teeth that made me feel as if I were a lamb that had been caught by a wolf. He spoke suddenly with such confidence and purpose that I felt silly standing there attempting to stare him down.

"What's a lovely young thing like you doing wandering so far away from the party?" He asked daring to reach over to me so that he might remove the crescent mask from my face. My eyes widened at the man's bold behavior and I blushed, for some reason feeling as if I was completely exposed to him, my heart beat hard in my chest and I stammered.

"I-I-I-I wanted t-t-t-to see the rest of the rooms!" I cried out, quickly taking back my mask and holding it close to my chest as if it could hide me from the man's gaze. He grinned wider at the sudden action and my face turned into a cherry.

"Ah I see…" He drawled, moving slightly closer, causing me to step back out of the black room. "Not many people are brave enough to even step into this room, let alone hold a conversation in it." He chuckled lightly. "It's probably the red windows; they make it rather grotesque… Don't you think?" He leaned against the frame of the door, physically towering over me, once again displaying that arrogance and once against seeming to bait me into rising up to face him.

I grew bolder straightening myself to rise at his challenge; I stepped around him into the black room, moving over to one of the glass window panes with purpose. I rested the palm of my hand on the glass and spoke up. "It's different from the rest of the rooms; the glass is red instead of black, not the same as the rest of the room. It reminds me of a magician's cape, black on the outside and red on the inside."

I felt myself shaking; I was in the black room, in the room in which no one else seemed to want to enter. I felt a bit uneasy as if I shouldn't be in the room, but the feeling soon passed, and I felt myself beginning to like the room. It appealed to me, it was like the end, it WAS the end, which made me love it; but I soon began to question why I was there in the first place. The man walked closely behind me almost breathing down my neck.

"It's odd isn't it? You wonder why the duke would make a room like this, especially since he too seems afraid to enter."

I watched him as he leaned against the wall next to the window. I looked him over, staring at his simple attire, the red vest suit, black tie, white shirt, and black dress pants. He was so much more handsome than Lord Malekai's servant Vincent, I found myself thinking impure thoughts. Once I realized what kind of thoughts were in my mind I blushed furiously. The man detected this and grinned wickedly, he didn't bother to hear the response for the last question, and moved on to another.

"My name is Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh Riviera, what's yours?" I frowned at this and hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Liebe, Liebe Von Tod…" I looked into his eyes waiting for him to comment, most people here knew German, and I was pretty sure that if he realized what my name meant, he would be disgusted with me.

"Liebe Von Tod…" He stood there and contemplated on my name for a moment. I held my breath.

"That means Love of Death, doesn't it?" He asked, looking me over. My heart fell for a moment, he would for sure be disgusted.

"That makes sense, only someone with a love for the end would want to be in a room like this." He stated with an even wider grin than before, after which he headed for the door. I stood stunned for a while, unsure a to weather he had meant that as an insult or a compliment, until finally I turned to look at him, but by then he was already gone, leaving me there to listen to the soft protests of the Ivory clock.


	3. Chapter 3 - Unsettling

**Personally I'm surprised that I finally got this up, I've always been a bit of a procrastinator. I have a lot of this story written already, however I fell out of my writing frenzy for this story and its developing slowly. Hopefully having some sort of pressure to finish it in the form of an online account will push it along.**

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**Chapter 3 - Unsettling**

After meeting the man who called himself Gilgamesh, I found myself going to the black room more often. Rarely ever after the sun had set, because at that point the Ivory clock that protested so quietly during the day would screech loudly at me as soon as I set foot on the sable carpet.

I saw Gilgamesh in that room often after the first meeting, I would always somehow find him just about to touch the Ivory clock, and each time some sort of panic would take over me and I would grab his hand before he did so. The look he would give me when I stopped him from touching the clock was always strange, it was a look of despair as if I had ripped something precious from him, and oddly enough I understood it. I understood the feeling, it was the feeling that I always got after that clock would stop chiming. But every single time, just as I was about to say something, that look would disappear in an instant and he would yank any feelings of concern that I held for him with 6 words.

"Well if it isn't _Lovely Liebe_!" After which I would lose my temper and punch him across the jaw.

**…**

The conversations that I had with Gilgamesh were always rather odd; they had no particular basis, and usually involved some sort of talk about a beheading, I found Gilgamesh to be quite mad. As if he were two different people meshed into one. He had the ego of a god; and acted like nothing in the entire world could harm him, which for some reason seemed to be true.

I found myself looking for Gilgamesh in other rooms, but I could never seem to find him. I asked about him, no one seemed to know him, and thought me crazy when I asked about him. So I decided that the next time I saw him I would ask him myself.

"Why do I never see you anywhere else but in this room Gilgamesh, I have looked for you in other rooms, but I never see you… Why is that?" We were sitting by one of the red windows, staring out at a burning village that we assumed had been ravaged by the red death, my palm rested right above the village, almost as if I could reach out and snuff the flames.

He looked at me and frowned, as if I had asked him an absurd question. "Well obviously you're not looking hard enough." He laughed, tapping his knuckle over the burning village, just as the rest of the buildings collapsed under their own weight.

"I know I've seen you outside of this room." He stated much to my surprise.

"You saw me and didn't come and speak to me?" I asked incredulously, not understanding as to why he wouldn't have come to talk to me, or at least asked me to dance. He seemed to sense this and leaned closely to me his face close to mine, I blushed slightly not turning away.

"Was there a reason you wanted to see me in the other rooms?" He asked pushing a strand of my hair away, still as bold as ever. My breath caught and my heart beat just a little faster. I responded almost as if I were breathless.

"I was just curious; I wanted to introduce you to my friends…" His eyes met mine and I felt an intimate moment, although I believe that I was the only one to sense it.

"Well, I guess that I should talk to you the next time I see you outside of this room." And with that Gilgamesh left leaving me to miss his wolf like gaze and mad hatter like charm.

**...**

After months of the party continuing, many guests began to grow bored of the elegance and the proper-ness of it all. Even the prince began to allow more and more to happen during the party. The costumes became quite horrifying, the masks hideous. Even I found myself wearing the monstrosities.

I visited my sister Leben in the blue room, the room of which she never left, the room in which she seemed to refuse to leave. She abhorred the monstrous costumes and masks that more and more guests decided to wear, and as time went by and the more hideous the guest's costumes became the more elegant, beautiful and saintly hers became.

Often times when I saw her I would stop and simply stare. She seemed like an angel, a young vibrant silver-haired angel, sent by god to try and avert the eyes of true believers from the hideous nature of the world. She would spot me in my monstrous costume and mask and flinch.

"Liebe! Why are you in that! It doesn't suit you in the slightest!" She rushed over to me hesitating before touching the green shimmering scaled mask that I had on my face. I responded in kind.

"I'm aware of that Leben, I just felt like I should try wearing something a little… Risqué?"

She sighed at me, but then gave me a big smile that I was quite sure was fake. She started to pull me to a table that was set up near the banquet. I took notice to some of the food being served, finger foods, a bowl of punch, biscuits, as well as an expertly made entrée that resembled a deer that had been shot in the side with an arrow and lay dying in the grass; I shivered at the sight.

"Liebe, I know that many at the party have worn things like "this" but you shouldn't join in on that, it simply doesn't suit you!" She exclaimed, and I could see that she was determined to get me to wear something else.

"Leben, I appreciate your concern, but really I'm wearing this because I want to, not because it's what everyone else is doing. Now can we please move on to a different topic?" I pleaded, truly not wishing to go through another argument about wearing the proper attire for a lady, it was hard enough to get out of one of the silly costumes, and I had just changed into the one I had on presently. Leben however being the persistent girl that she was shook her head.

"No Liebe, I don't want you wearing that thing! It's hideous and I'm ashamed to be sitting next to it. It's not something that a proper lady should wear!"

I could already see how this conversation would end, Leben would win and I would change into a different costume, I opened my mouth to concede when I felt a reassuring hand rest on my shoulder.

"Nachgiebig are you pestering your sister about her choice of costume again, I thought we had discussed this already?" Laune said, his unique charm managing to get Leben to stop with her pestering, I let out a sigh of relief, and then glanced at Leben who was now staring up at Laune with her mouth tightly shut, looking a little guilty about pestering me once more about my costume. Especially since she had promised Laune the last time that she would stop. I wondered why I didn't think of mentioning the promise to her before; I blamed Gilgamesh and the way he made me so light-headed and ditzy.

"I'm sorry Laune, it's just that there are so many guests with hideous costumes, it gets so depressing after a while. I didn't want Liebe to be part of that depressing mood." Leben stated, looking a bit disheartened, I didn't feel sorry for her however she needed to be scolded for breaking her promise. I let out a snide  
remark.

"Ladies never break their promises." This warranted a glare from Leben and a harsh look from Laune, but I looked away from both of them, puffing out my cheeks.

**...**

The three of us Laune, Leben, and I sat at the table in the blue room, Leben held a silver coin in her hand of which she flipped around over and over in her hand. The motion became automatic; I couldn't help but to stare at her hand as she did this, so I noticed that the coin had heads on both sides of it.

"I'm amazed at how long this party has lasted for, and I'm amazed that no one ever seems to notice how much time has gone by." Laune stated, as he too stared at the coin in Leben's hand.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and commented. "Well we knew as soon as we left our estate that we would not be back for quite some time. Don't tell me you're regretting your decision." I asked, sitting up a little taller, covering my mouth and the yawn that was escaping.

The three of us had been sitting there for a while discussing mundane things and filling each other in on the gossip that we had heard about each other around the party, we were starting to get bored.

Laune closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, I don't regret my decision." He stated, a small grin gracing his features. "Besides, I have no reason to complain about being at a never-ending party." Leben and I both giggled at this, Leben stopped spinning the double-headed coin between her fingers.

"I don't know Laune." She stated, tossing the coin to him, of which he plucked from the air with ease. "There are some people here whom I hate being locked up with." She stated, making a reference to how Laune disliked Lord Malekai and his servant Vincent.

The smile on my face brightened as I watched Laune's grin turn to a grimace, I decided to make a jab of my own at him. "I could also do away at the lack of privacy to spend with one's lover." I smiled at Laune, and giggled when he tossed the coin harshly at my face; I caught it of course and stuck my tongue out at him.

"I don't know Liebe; I could just go into the black room with her." He stated poking fun at how much time I spent in that room with Gilgamesh, my grin faded and I began to fiddle with the coin in my hand, I hid my embarrassment by making another comment.

"You'd be surprised at how nice it is Laune; the shadows dancing on the walls may inspire Whitney to throw herself into your arms." Laune and Leben both laughed at this, I faked a laugh not letting on that I felt any different.

"Speaking of the black room, Liebe when are you going to introduce us to this Gilgamesh fellow?" Leben asked pressing her hands together and setting them on the table, while staring at me with an inquiring look. I looked down at my feet, staring at one of the heads on the coin. The fact that I didn't answer right away made Laune cock his eyebrow and put his elbow on the table, his eyes narrowed.

"You will introduce him to us won't you?" He asked letting on that if I didn't introduce him to them, Laune would make sure that I couldn't see Gilgamesh again without the two of them being present.

I shrunk in on myself and spoke up. "I really don't know, he… He's hard to keep up with… He'll come around when he comes around." I stated truthfully. It wasn't that I didn't want to introduce him to my family and friends; it was just that I could never find him outside of the black room. Sighing to myself I tossed the coin back to Leben, who fumbled a bit before catching it.

**...**

The party seemed to be at its apex, the music was truly magnificent, the dancing truly divine and the hearths blazing furiously. The mansion seemed to come alive, but the way in which it came alive scared me. The shadows that the ornaments cast were beastly, the costumes blending with the shadows to make a ghastly effect, and the echoes from the music and chatter were eerie. I found myself retreating into the black room, which turned out to be a strange comfort, as its madness was always constant and not a crescendo like in the rest of the duke's home.

When I set my foot on the sable carpet the clock didn't even protest, as if it understood my need to get away from the party. I looked across the room to see if Gilgamesh was trying to touch the clock like he usually did and was surprised to see that he wasn't even close to the clock; instead he was leaning against the wall next to the doorway, staring at me.

"I see you needed to get away from the crowd as well." He stated causing me to turn away from the clock quickly. Standing up straight he moved to one of two chairs on either side of a table in the center of the room.

I frowned at the table, it had not been there before, and what was more was that there was a small meal set up on the table, a meal meant for two. I looked back at Gilgamesh and saw that he had pulled out a chair, motioning for me to sit, my eyes widened in surprise.

"What's this?" I asked moving over to the table, one hand resting on the side. He cocked an eyebrow at me, as if it were a stupid question.

"It's a meal." He stated setting his chin on the top of the chair. I rolled my eyes at his obvious answer, and spoke once more.

"I meant; why is it here?" I re-stated, moving closer to Gilgamesh, setting my hand on the armrest of the chair.

He frowned at me, looking at me accusingly. "Do I need a reason to set up a meal?" He asked me, making it harder for me to get a straight answer.

"Gilgamesh!" I complained, slapping my hand against the table in mock frustration. "You KNOW what I mean!" I cried out, sending him a pout which I knew wouldn't do anything.

He laughed at me, moving around the chair, taking me by the shoulders and sitting me down. "Because I knew that you would come in here, the party out there is getting out of hand, I thought we could have our own celebration in here." He shrugged and moved over to his chair, sitting in the chair sideways with his legs draped over the armrest. "What can I say? I'm a romantic in that way." He grinned his signature grin and I melted, I couldn't fight against it, so instead I began to nibble on a piece of lettuce, trying not to stare at the way he was sitting in his chair, as I knew he would find a way to make me feel awkward instead of him.

I found it odd how he hadn't even touched his fork; instead he was staring at me while I ate. I stopped eating, feeling his gaze on me. "Um?" I began.

"Um, what?" He continued for me, sitting up in his chair and putting his elbows on the table. The fact that Gilgamesh had so little manners both endeared and annoyed me. I wanted to ask him why he wasn't touching his food, but something else popped into my mind.

"Have you noticed how everyone has got wilder?" I asked, setting the piece of lettuce down, staring at my plate. I didn't have much of an appetite and the fact that I had even attempted to try to devour the food placed in front of me was good enough, it was appropriate for a lady to not have much of an appetite.

"Yes, I've noticed." He nodded in response, looking at me as if he knew that I still had more to say.

"Well, it's rather unsettling." I stated twiddling my fingers underneath the table.

"Why do you think so?" He asked seeming to be almost serious, I breathed deeply.

"The costumes have gotten rather scary, the music more eerie and the shadows seem like they will jump off of the wall." I stated, inadvertently admitting to him my newly found fear of the shadows that now resided in most of the other rooms. I fisted the fabric of my dress trying to let out some of the nerves and frustration I felt as a result of the party began to reach its high point.

I looked up to see if Gilgamesh would say anything about my insecurities and was a bit shocked to see that he wasn't in his chair, instead he was standing right beside me, holding out his hand. "Would you like to dance… Lovely Liebe?" He smiled down at me, causing me to calm down enough.

I laughed a little underneath my breath at how easily he had dispelled the edge of my nerves. I didn't need to think about my answer, so I smiled up at him, and took his hand. "Of course Sir Riviera…"

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**Comments? Suggestions? Flames? Anything is acceptable.**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Mad Mans Dance

**~Enjoy~**

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**Chapter 4 - The Mad Mans Dance**

There was no music playing in the room, when we started to dance, but we did have a beat. The ivory clock seemed to be able to sense the mood, and as a result kept a good beat for the two of us. It seemed to have an array of sounds that it would play at just the right moments.

_(Thump)_

The ticking of the clock seemed to beat like a drum.

_(Thump)_

I was surprised to find out how well Gilgamesh danced, I had assumed in the first place that he was a good dancer, simply by the way he glided wherever he went, but while I was dancing with him, I felt like I was flying.

_(__Thump)_

He did tend to change the style of dance that we performed quite often, and liked to keep me on my toes, which frustrated me some.

_(__Thump)_

However when he took complete control and helped me to glide across the floor in the same manner as him. I couldn't make mistakes, he wouldn't allow me to. He turned out to be the kind of dance partner that would never let you fall, which afforded me a newfound respect for the mad man.

_(Thump) _

"You know Liebe; I'm surprised you would be nervous about the shadows." Gilgamesh stated, as we glided past the clock.

(_Thump Thump)_

"After spending so much time in this room with all of the shadows that seem to breathe down your neck and that silly clock, I would have assumed that nothing could faze you."

_(Thump Thump)_

He remarked with a grin as he twirled me around then stilled me so that we could move across the floor in dance again. I breathed in deeply at his remark

_(Thump Thump)_,

unsure about what I could say, after which I let out a sigh.

_(Thump Thump)_

"I really don't understand why." I stated truthfully.

_(Thump Thump)_

"It's just that everyone out there seems to have gone completely mad. It's reflected everywhere, in the music, in the costumes, in the shadows."I remarked revealing to him the true nature of my apprehension.

_(Thump Thunk Thump) _

I realized that I was beginning to get the hang of the dance that Gilgamesh had last changed to. I was able to glide more easily with him in this dance now, without needing to rely on his lead so much.

_(Thump Thunk Thump) _

"So it isn't the shadows, it's the madness?" He asked, seeming almost amused at my comment.

_(Thump Thunk Thunk)_

I frowned slightly at him opening my mouth to respond when he suddenly changed the dance once more. His arm wrapped around the small of my back, pulling me closer so that my body was pressed closely to his, our arms stretched out in the direction of which we were dancing to.

_(Thump Pa Thunk Thunk)_

My face heated at the sudden closeness, the words that I had been about to say lost.

_(Thump Pa Thunk Thunk)_

I became concerned only with the closeness of our bodies.

_(__Thump Pa Thunk Thunk)_

"So if it's the madness that scares you. Why in the world would you come to the black room to be alone with me?" He asked, causing me to stiffen slightly

_(PA THUNK) _

and I moved to pull away

_(PA THUNK)_,

but Gilgamesh would not allow me to cop out on him now,

_(PA THUNK) _

he twirled me away from him then pulled me back so my back was pressed to his chest,

_(PA THUNK THUNK)_

his mouth right next to my ear, whispering.

_(PA THUNK THUMP)_

"Why would you spend so much time with a mad man if you fear the madness?"

_(PA THUNK THUMP)_

His voice was deep and a little husky causing shivers to run up my spine,

_(PA THUNK THUNK)_

I wanted to pull away but yet I also wanted to stay in his arms.

_(PA THUNK THUNK)_

His arms were warm,

_(PA THUNK)_

and I felt safe.

_(PA THUMP)_

We both stood there for a while

_(BA DUMP)_,

until finally I willed myself to look back up at him.

_(BA DUMP)_

I looked through the mask that covered his face

_(BA DUMP) _

and straight into his eyes.

_(BA DUMP)_

I hesitated for a moment then moved to speak,

_(BA DUMP)_

but then I felt his finger on my lips.

_(BA DUMP)_

"Why don't you just leave the rest for my imagination?"

_(BA DUMP)_

**_..._**

I felt humiliated. I had almost said it; I had almost admitted it to him. I had almost told him that I held feelings for him. I put my hand to my lips, it had just been his finger, but it had still touched my lips. I traced with my finger over the place of which he had placed his finger on my lips, and then let out a depressed sigh. I felt someone touch my shoulder and jumped.

I looked to the person whom had brought me back to reality. "Yes Billy?" I asked, sitting up straight in the lime green chair of which I was sitting in.

Billy, who sat right next to me, had a look of concern on her face. "You looked like you had gone off some place for a moment there Liebe." She stated, leaning a bit closer to me. "Is anything the matter?" She asked, beginning to pry.

I realized that Billy wasn't one for gossip, but with me if she sensed something was wrong she would keep on prying until she got her answer. I bit the inside of my cheek at this thought, I didn't know whether I should share with my best friend about this or not. This was the type of thing that was considered scandalous, and she might not be able to keep it to herself. News of my inappropriate behavior with Gilgamesh in the black room would spread through the party like wild fire. However, she was my best friend; I had confided a number of secrets to her, none of which she had told to anyone. I decided that I could trust her.

"Do you recall when I told you about the man in the black room?" I asked her, causing her to frown.

"Yes? What about him? Did he do something?" My friend Billy scooted closer to me as she spoke, eager to find out what it was that I was gloomy over. I hesitantly continued.

"Well a while ago I went into the black room, and just as usual Sir Riviera was there, but what was unusual was that he had set up a meal for the two of us." Billy's eyes widened at the last part, and she smiled a little.

"So he's courting you?!" She squealed this out loudly, much to my disdain, which caused a few ladies that were close to our table to look our way curiously.

My face reddened and I placed a finger over my mouth shushing my friend quietly. "Shhh! Billy please!" My friend realizing what she had done pressed her lips together and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Oh I'm so sorry Liebe…" The both of us glanced at the girls who had gathered close to our table rather obviously to see if they could listen in on our conversation. I stood and motioned for Billy to follow me.

**...**

The two of us decided that moving into the violet room to whisper among ourselves was the best option. I somehow managed to get Billy to step into the black room for long enough to make sure that no one was listening, after which she shot out of the room and told me that if I ever made her do that again she would lock my first child into a tower with no stairs. I couldn't help but to giggle at how serious Billy was about the last part, which really didn't help calm her down much. But eventually after Billy had calmed down and realized what we had been talking about before, she immediately urged me to continue.

"Usually I find Sir Riviera standing around the clock, as if he's about to touch it." I motioned to the clock in the black room. "I keep him from touching it each time, I don't know why, but I just do." Billy glanced back at the clock and a moment of understanding passed over her face, she looked back to me and nodded eagerly for me to get on with my story; I smiled at her eagerness. "But he set up a meal for the two of us. When I asked him why he set it up he simply told me that he felt the party was getting to crazy and we should have our own." Billy giggled at me.

"My goodness Liebe he IS courting you!" She exclaimed bringing a blush to my face. I wasn't convinced even by her words.

"No, no, I'm sure he's not. He's a mad man! He wouldn't court anyone!" I protested although I did fancy the thought, Billy frowned and shook her head.

"Liebe you really are thick aren't you?" She sighed at me then perked up. "Is there more to the story?" She asked, being as perceptive as she was. I nodded to her.

"I told him how I was a bit wary about…" I paused for a moment, I couldn't very well tell her that the more wild the party got, the more creepy the manor became, she would think me mad.

"Go on Liebe, you were wary of what?" I shook myself out of my daze and continued, thinking of a quick excuse.

"The Red Death…" I blurted out. I watched as my best friends went silent.

I waited for her to say something, like a reprimand for bringing something like that up at the prince's party, but she didn't freak out or get angry at me like most would have. Instead she said. "Just continue…" I let out a relieved sigh and continued.

"After I mentioned the Red death, he asked me to Dance."

I'm pretty sure that the people on the other side of the world were woken from their beds when Billy squealed. I sighed, and didn't even attempt to quiet the excited girl.

"Oh Liebe, I cannot believe you do not think he is courting you!" She said taking my hand in hers, I stared at her excited face, still not believing my friends belief that this man was courting me. When Billy saw this look on her face disappeared for a moment before once again reappearing.

"Oh please Liebe do go on, this is getting very interesting!" I bit the inside of my cheek for the second or third time that night and continued.

"Well, I agreed to dance with him." I smiled brightly at Billy forgetting myself and beginning to gush. "He is a divine dancer! While he was leading I didn't make any mistakes. Even if I wanted to make a mistake I don't think I could have, he leads so well! And I felt like I was fl-!" I heard Billy laugh a little at me and my face heated after realizing that I was gushing. "I was gushing wasn't I?" I asked in a whisper. My best friend nodded covering her mouth with her hand so that she wouldn't drop on the floor in laughter. I pressed my lips together truly embarrassed, but Billy patted my back in reassurance.

"Oh please Liebe do continue I know you want to." I stayed silent for the longest time until Billy finally calmed down, after which I continued.

"We danced for a while, talking, having fun, but Gilgamesh kept on changing the dance while we were talking, he started off with a foxtrot, and then moved onto a waltz, and surprisingly enough he started a Viennese waltz! I could hardly keep up with each change!" I cried out, Billy's eyes were wide; she didn't realize that he was such a good dancer that he dance a Viennese waltz.

"He started to get bolder, doing more… Passionate dances, like the Paso Doble, or the mamba."

Billy gasped at this. "He's rather bold isn't he?" She cried out trying her best to be as discreet as possible, I nodded at her.

"The last dance we did was the Tango, and during it he asked me why I would be so afraid if I spent so much time in that room… He whispered it in my ear from behind me, and just as I was about to tell him; he put his finger over my lips and told me not to say it." I deflated a little as I said the last part, while Billy seemed to inflate. She gripped my hand with both of hers and brought it close to her chest.

"Oh Liebe, you don't realize just how lucky you are; do you?"

After having told Billy about having danced with Gilgamesh, I made her promise on the life of her unborn child that she wouldn't tell a soul. She agreed to my promise, after which she started nagging me for details. She somehow managed to lift my disappointment of not being able to tell Gilgamesh how I felt. She got me to start giggling and blushing about him instead of brooding. I was truly grateful to have such a good friend.

We were twittering about Gilgamesh until the clock chimed. After the clock had stopped chiming, the manor started to move again, I looked to Billy, and saw that she had a look of realization on her face. I frowned at this, and I opened my mouth to ask what it was, when Billy interrupted me.

"Oh Liebe I'm so sorry I lost track of time and now I'm late! Please forgive me but I must go!" Even before I got the chance to speak Billy was already off, bunching up her skirt and hurriedly rushing through the white room. I was curious about what it was she was in such a rush to get to, but I shook that thought from my head; it wasn't becoming of a lady to spy.

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**When I was writing this part I got up quite a bit and started pacing, its not that it was hard to write, its just that I was having a hard teim sitting still and letting it get written. It happens when I get excited.**

**Comments? Suggestions? Flames? All is welcome.**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Princess's Scorn

** Bad Soul fire, you dont have any excuse to be lazy.**

**I truly realize just how boring and rather mundane this story is, but if you keep reading it DOES get better... Even if by just a litte... This is the Masque of Red Death in essence, so yeah, people are gonna die... xP Spoilers, Bad Soul Fire**

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**Chapter 5 - The Princess's Scorn**

Even after I had decided to leave Billy alone, I still couldn't shake the curiosity, I had started to look for her, but found that she was nowhere to be found. Despite my disappointment I knew that I could wait, eventually I would be able to ask my friend what she had been doing, but for now I simply had to wait.

I moved through the rooms mingling, gossiping, and dancing with various guests. I let myself have fun, despite the fact that the madness was getting worse by the second. In each room I found that a different dance was being performed, and he music varied greatly. Before it had just been one song throughout the entire mansion, and the same dance for each song in each room. Now it was different, the songs became livelier, more chaotic; the dances looked almost primal in some of the rooms, while in other rooms the dancing was so elegant that it almost seemed like they were part of the room itself. It was strange, and for some reason I told myself that I shouldnt get too caught up in all of it, or it might turn out badly for me.

My favorite room for dancing turned out to be the purple room. The dancing was lively, enticing, it oddly enough reminded me of how Gilgamesh had held me in our last dance. I blushed a bit at the thought, and moved to join in on the sea of purple dressed and tuxedos. To join the youths who were just now coming of age. The group who was truly the most lively of us all.

**...**

My dance partner in the purple room was a young man by the name of Seth Altoro; he was no older than 18 but already had the look of a business man about him. He even acted like one off of the dance floor, all serious and tight faced, but once he cut loose and began to dance you could truly tell how old he was. He was a young man who was just beginning to grow into his body, a boy who had just begun to explore and understand about the world. I had laughed the entire time while dancing with this young man, letting myself go and acting like I was just beginning finishing school. That I had yet to learn the proper way to act in front of royalty or how to bow to the queen for my debut. I felt free.

After Seth and I had worn ourselves out on the dance floor, we said our goodbyes. I went directly to the powder room to fix my hair of which I was certain was a mess and to let my cheeks flush back to the pale white skin that I took such delicate care of. When in the powder room I set myself in front of the mirror and began my work, tugging out pins and ornaments in my hair that kept it in place. One particular bobby pin gave me more trouble than the rest; I battled with it for the longest time before I felt a hand settle over mine. My breath caught in my chest when I saw who it was. "Princes Leliana…"

**...**

The sharp features of the dragon princess had startled me at first when I looked up in the mirror to see her standing right behind me. I felt as if she could strike at any moment. I jumped a little when she plucked the bobby pin from my hair easily, and set it on the counter in front of me.

"There, it should be easier for you to continue now that it's no longer tangled in your hair." I stared in the mirror completely bewildered by the way that the dragon princess was looking back at me. I had always been a little intimidated of Leliana, the way she strutted around like nothing could touch her, by her sharp gaze that cut like daggers into your skin. I had tried to avoid the dragon princess as much as I could. But now that I was cornered with nowhere to escape to, I had no choice but to face the dragon princess.

As the rest of my hair fell over my shoulders, I felt her take one of the strands in her hand, and stroke it with her thumb.

"I'm amazed at how soft your hair is." I blinked a little, thrown off by the compliment.

"Um, thank you princess." Hesitantly I took a brush from the counter, putting it to my hair and brushing it through. I did this for a little while until I felt her take the brush from my hand and begin to run it through my hair herself.

"In my country, hair is a sign of status. Hair like yours is very highly coveted." I was thrown off guard when I could see a hint of jealously in her eyes as she ran the brush through my hair.

"However, it is difficult to take care of one's hair because of the extreme temperatures. Even for someone like me it is difficult." My jaw had gone slack by from the comments of the Dragon Princess.

Leliana had not seemed like the type to worry about hair, she looked to me as a noble warrior, with her gait, and the way she carried the sword around her waist. I would have thought that she would be most concerned about her army or honing her swords skills; instead of doing her hair. I smiled a bit feeling as if maybe I could make a connection with the princess. However, when Leliana saw the smile on my face, her eyes narrowed, and she set down the brush. I felt a sharp tug on my hair as she began to gather all of it up in her hands, I yelped a little, having not been prepared for the pain.

"Do not mistake me for being kind child. I simply felt that hair such as this should not be subjected to the abuse you were putting it through," I was forced to look up the ceiling as she worked with my hair. I didn't understand what he was getting at.

"Many in my country would be willing to kill for a status symbol like this, and it appalled me to see you make such a mess of it." I felt her roughly putting up my hair, sticking pins into it that poked at my scalp, pulling at my hair as she bent it to her will.

"You are a demure little thing, someone who in my country would sink to the bottom of the food chain in mere seconds." I reached my hands to the back of my head to stop her from handing my hair so roughly, but I found that she had already finished. My hair was up off of my neck, intricately put up so that it was both out of the way, yet displayed beautifully for the world to see. I was a bit amazed at how practical yet so beautiful it looked. I glanced back alarmed at Leliana to see that her face was right next to mine, her stare harsh and unforgiving. But it was what she said next that made my blood run cold.

"I despise those with a Love of Death."

**...**

After my encounter with Leliana in the powder room, my confidence in myself had taken a nosedive. I couldn't bring myself to go out and dance with any of the guests, as I felt as if my stomach would jump out of my throat. Once again I found myself feeling humiliated, but not because of Gilgamesh; no it was because I was not able to stand up and defend myself against the Amazon. I felt humiliated that just because she was a princess, and carried around the sword that I sat there and let her do whatever she liked. My hand moved up to my head, I touched one of the bobby pins that were digging into my scalp, and sighed. I looked down at my feet feeling sorry for myself, moping about how unlucky I was. I moped like this for a while before realizing what pathetic thoughts I was having. So I moved around beginning to mingle.

I found myself mingling with a group of women in the white room, we were gossiping with the each other politely, complimenting each other's costumes, and informing each other about the latest couples. Then there was one particular piece of gossip that didn't very well suit me. The women had all begun sharing about one particular girl's misfortune. I listened in but tried to stay as much out of it as possible.

"Did you hear about Miss Foster?" One woman started, causing all the women to look at each other and nod before allowing her to continue.

"She spilt wine all over one of Prince Prospero's leggings!" She commented, for some reason simple delighted at the girl's misfortune; I wanted to spill wine all over her, but instead I took a sip from the glass that was in my hand savoring the rich taste of the wine that made my taste buds tingle. A different woman continued, whispering to us as if the information she was sharing were top secret.

"Oh I was there when it happened, I saw how she turned red as a cherry and attempted to clean it up," The group giggled lightly, and the woman continued.

"She seemed to get rather bold, trying to wipe up the wine! She even made the prince blush!" All of those within her company laughed loudly, even me, despite the fact that I knew I shouldn't have. I despised this kind of gossip, the kind that wasn't light hearted, but mostly malicious and warped. I heard another girl speak; one who I could simply tell had a grudge against Miss Foster.

"I saw it too, while she was standing next to me she told me to watch carefully as she got close to the prince. She spilt on him purposely!" Most of the ladies gasped at this, while I felt like rolling my eyes in disgust, I decided to speak up.

"Oh Miss Katharine you must be thinking of someone else." The girl's eyes narrowed at me seeming to warn me to stop.

"I was there too, but I saw her approaching her governess when a man bumped into her." I watched as the rest of the company frowned and looked between me and the other girl. The other girl was glaring daggers at me. While the group of women was twittering, a little bit surprised that Miss Katharine would make such a malicious lie, but also at me for speaking up and refuting it. The girl Katharine spoke up again, quickly saving face in front of the group.

"Well I must have been mistaken, maybe I heard someone else." She responded tilting her head down slightly. I smiled a fake smile at her, wishing misfortune upon her for the malicious lie, after which I looked up to see Claudia. The fake smile on my face turned into a genuine one, I excused myself from the group of women and moved over to her.

**...**

Approaching Claudia I couldn't help but to sniff the air and notice that she had put on a particular scent. I smiled at this, the smell of roses meant that the vibrant black haired beauty was attempting to court someone. I didn't mention it as I knew that eventually she would tell me, if she felt like sharing.

"Oh, Liebe! I haven't seen you in a while! Where have you been?" She grinned displaying the same old Claudia that I had always known and loved, seeing the bright smile on my face lifted my mood from my encounter with Leliana.

"These women here are all vultures." I told her, a bitter taste was left on my mouth from engaging in the gossip from those women, the words that were said simply didn't sit well in my stomach. I assumed that my little comment had already set the stage for what I was sure would be an interesting conversation, a conversation involving revenge and ingenuous pranks. Claudia face seemed to brighten, I could already see that the wheels in her mind turning.

"Well what would you expect from such a simple minded bunch?" She grinned pulling me close to the wall; I knew that Claudia was thinking of something to do to them, I could hardly wait to hear it, and I was almost tempted to try and convince her that including Leliana on the other end of the prank would be fun.

"You say that you go into the black room a lot before, right Liebe?" Claudia asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief. I smiled back at her.

"Guilty as charged…" Claudia grinned wide and began to pull me to the group of girls by my wrist, I found myself having a hard time keeping up with her. When we finally stopped I found myself looking right at the mask of Katharine whom I had ousted earlier as a liar. I turned to look back at Claudia, to try and understand what in the world she was doing, I got my answer shortly after, when she addressed the ladies.

"Ladies, Liebe has just given me the best idea!" She stated her voice loud and clear, it caught the girl's attention immediately, as well as a few other spectators around.

I spotted Leliana among the spectators, frowning at the spectacle that Claudia was causing. I saw her staring at both me and Claudia, a look of confusion on her face, but when her eyes locked with mine, her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"The game that I am referring to is a test of courage!" Even more spectators gathered around Claudia which seemed to encourage her to go on.

"The test of courage is going to be in the black room! For those of you who are brave enough to go into the black room and place a hand on the Ivory clock, there will be a reward!" I heard murmurs, nervous and excited chatter from Claudia's audience.

"So if any of you want to participate," I stared pointedly at the group of ladies, then to Leliana, sending them a taunting look. They took the bait despite how much it looked that they didn't want to.

"Be at the entrance of the black room by the next chime of the clock!" With that, Claudia grabbed my hand and together both of us raced off to the entrance of the black room.

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**I always think that my idea's of conversations are severly lacking... **

**Comments? Suggestions? Flames? All are welcome...**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Spreading of Madness

**This is where things actually start to get interesting. Well about as interesting as things can get at a neverending party... xD**

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**Chapter 6 - The Spreading of Madness**

When Claudia and I reached the entrance of the black room, I pushed on the door to open it up wide so that Claudia could see exactly what she was encouraging people to do. When the black haired woman's eyes landed on the room, I could have sworn that I saw her flinch, which was odd, because I would have assumed that Claudia didn't fear anything. But just as quickly as the look appeared it disappeared just as quickly.

"Well then Claudia, shall we?" I asked her, motioning into the room. However she stood frozen, not moving a single inch to attempt and enter the room. I moved closer placing a hand gently on her shoulder; I could feel how tense she had become. I opened my mouth to say something but before I could speak, the tenseness disappeared and Claudia looked to me with determination, or what looked like determination because I could very clearly see that she was afraid.

The knowledge that even Claudia was afraid of the black room filled me with a sense of dread. If everyone, including Claudia was afraid of the black room, then why is it that I seemed to be infatuated with it? Was there something wrong with me? I pursed my lips; I already knew the answer to that question. Yes, there was something wrong with me, I was infatuated with death. I had a sick and twisted view of it, I tempted it, I lived close to it, and I reached out and tried to touch it frequently. I wasn't normal.

I stepped back a little as I watched Claudia take her first step foot into the room that I had spent so much time in. I could see the jolt run through her body when she paced her foot on the sable carpet. She froze in place as the clock suddenly began to moan in protest of the intruder. I could see her face pale and her eyes fill with fear.

"Claudia… You don't need to force yourself… It's alright." I stated, moving forward to place my hand on her shoulder. I felt her jerk away from my hand, her voice shaking despite the insistence of her words.

"No Liebe, I can do it! If a meek little think like you can eat in this room, then I can walk to the clock and back!" I watched her as she forced herself to move forward, she stood tall, but never before had she looked so small. I stayed at the doorway, my eyes following her, as she moved slowly over the carpet. The black room seemed to move in on her, as if she were anything but welcome. I felt fear move over me, I could feel that something horrible was about to happen. I should have called out to Claudia and told her to come back, but I was held still in place. I couldn't seem to move.

Claudia slowly approached the clock, its protests getting louder the closer she got. It wasn't long until Claudia stopped, standing in front of the clock, her form looking so puny and insignificant next to the ivory of the clock. I saw her reach her hand out, reaching to touch the clock. Fear gripped over me and my blood ran cold, I jolted forward trying to reach Claudia before her hand rested on the clock. But I was too late, her fingers touched the ivory of the clock and she hunched forward, before dropping to the floor, dead.

**...**

Claudia's death sent a wave of unease throughout the party. It darkened the mood and made many uneasy. The fact that someone so vibrant and lively could die so suddenly and at such a young age, was just so unsettling. It wasn't something that could simply be pushed aside and forgotten.

Claudia had been one of the most well-known women in attendance at the party, known for her health, intelligence, and passion. It made many people fearful for their lives, they all theorized that maybe she had some sort of disease, how else would she have died so suddenly. Prince Prospero tried to assure us that everything was just fine, that there was no possible way that a disease could have reached them, but many were still unconvinced. They simply refused to retrieve Claudia's body and felt content to simply let Claudia lay cold and stiff at the feet of the ivory clock.

This simple fact had enraged me; they were all cowards who were afraid of meeting the same fate. Never mind the poor dead woman lying on the ground, let her lay there for all eternity we care not of her memory, only of our lives. It was all so selfish. It wasn't until Prince Prospero ordered his guards to retrieve Claudia's body that she was properly dressed and burned in holy fire to rest in peace. I felt horrible, I felt responsible, and I felt as if her blood was on my hands. If only I would've stopped her. If only I had slapped her hand away, from the clock, like I had done so often with Gilgamesh. Then she wouldn't have died.

**...**

After Claudia's death, I had tried to visit Gilgamesh in the black room, but found that each time I set food on the sable carpet; I would be reminded of my friend's death. Gilgamesh would see me set foot on the carpet and attempt to speak to me, but I would run off before he could utter a word. I found myself trying to get as far away as possible from the black room.

I often found myself joining my sister in her delight within the blue room, with all the new and fresh and baby faced guests. However, I soon noticed the curiosities, everyone was acting strange. I could see that many guests had developed twitches, constant blinking of the eyes, bobbing of the heads, shrugging of the shoulders, and clicking of the nails. It all got quite overwhelming, and rather annoying. Then if the guests were not twitching then they were always looking at people suspiciously and glancing over their shoulders in a paranoid manner. I bumped into one such guest and she glared at me in such a manner that I flinched when I looked at her face, and apologized fervently. The woman didn't seem to forgive me, and I could swear I heard her utter that she wasn't going to let me win as she stalked off.

Then there were the people who would whisper to the walls and food, then laugh as if something funny had been said. This odd behavior had not been there before; it seemed as if the madness that had been on the walls, in the shadows, and sitting on the furniture throughout the duke's home had possessed almost everyone after Claudia's death. The few people who were not affected by the madness flocked together like birds.

**...**

I too found myself flocking together with people who had not gone completely mad. The kind of people who would twitch but try to control it, the kind of people who would be paranoid but use reason to calm themselves. There were many of those people, of which I mingled with and tried to pull back to sanity whenever I could. But my attempts were futile because eventually, they would fall off the deep end, and become like the rest in attendance at the party, with the twitching, the whispering, and the paranoia. I stopped my attempts to cure the madness, and finally went to group together with the people who had no signs of madness at all. Surprisingly enough, all the people who were unaffected by the madness, were people of which I knew well, Billy, Whitney, Lexington, Leben, Laune, Malek, Vincent, and Leliana.

Leliana of course kept to herself and apart from me, and glared at me whenever no one else was watching her, and sent me a sweet smile whenever someone looked her way. I did not understand why she hated me so much, it didn't make any sense. However, despite her obvious apprehension of me, she tended to stay close to my group of family and friends, in case I ever decided to leave the group. Although I very much wanted to stay with the group at all times to spite Leliana, and maybe just drive her to madness, I just wasn't made that way. So every once in a while I would excuse myself from the group so that Leliana could get her regular dose of sanity. Why I even bothered to be nice to the dragon princess was beyond me.

**...**

Another thing that surprised me throughout the party, was that I was always the one to notice when things were about to go wrong, ahead of time. Like when the chandelier fell, I saw a shadow swinging on its crystals, or when Madam Noir slipped and broke her hip, I saw the shadows clawing at her ankles.

Sometimes I would see a shadow stalking one person in particular, and then leap onto their backs. The behavior this person would become rather odd afterwards, even for a mad person. If they were a person who twitched, they would twitch, and begin whispering to themselves as if there were someone else there. If they were someone who glanced over their shoulders paranoid, they would begin twitching as well and finally if they were one who whispered to themselves, they would start glancing over their shoulders in a paranoid manner when they spoke. But that was not the worst of it. Whenever I saw the shadows leap onto someone's back, that would signal some sort of accident or tragedy would befall them. It was all very disturbing, and it made me wish to be in the black room, where although the shadows breathed down your neck, and flitted around you constantly, they never touched you. But once again, I could not bear to set foot in the room where Claudia died. My only comfort had been ripped away from me.

I shook the morbid thoughts from my head, and attempted to think of something else to distract my overactive imagination. I smiled when I came up with the perfect idea. I would give Lord Malekai a dance lesson. Standing up from the violet chair of which had been my home for the past five minutes, I left the violet room and set out on my pursuit to find the good Lord Malekai.


	7. Chapter 7 - Drunken Madness

**I've had a "steady" flow of updates for a while, 2 chapters at a time. However, after this chapter is where I slow down. These previous chapters that I've been updating are ones that I already had written. I was simply reading them through and making them worthy of putting up.**

**Expect slower updates in the future... REALLY slow updates...**

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**Chapter 7 - Drunken Madness**

Dancing with Lord Malekai was always fun. The man was a horrible dancer, and stepped on my toes quite frequently. I always had to ice my toes after I finished a lesson with him. He was a train wreck on the dance floor, but I always enjoyed every minute of it. Dancing was my passion, dancing was my life, dancing was what I loved almost as much as I desired to be near death.

Malek was nowhere near as skilled as Gilgamesh, which was quite evident based on the bruises on my shins. But he always got an A for effort, no one could argue about that. Many had tried to teach Malek how to dance before, but they always gave up on him as soon as they realized just how hopeless a dancer he was. Everyone who had already danced with Malek had already deemed Malek a lost cause quite some time ago. I however, refused to allow Malek to continue on that path, I would teach him how to dance even if it killed me (And it just might).

The fact that I had taken it upon myself to teach Lord Malekai how to dance, had left his servant Vincent in a sour mood. He had very much wanted to teach Lord Malekai how to dance. However Vincent was much too tall to play the role of the woman, and it was certain that Malek wouldn't learn a thing about dancing if Vincent were to teach him; or rather he would spend the whole time looking down and blushing at the things that Vincent would say. I could always count on the clumsy dancing oaf to make me laugh, and today was not an exception.

"Lift your feet Lord Malekai!" I exclaimed to the bumbling lord, he had already stepped on my feet 5 times already. My shins hurt a little from the number of times the lord had kicked them during our dance lesson. One would think I was a masochist by the way I dealt with the abuse.

"S-s-sorry Lady Liebe!" He exclaimed in a frustration, kicking my shin once more causing me to wince.

"Ow!" I cried out, before sending Malekai a glare, but my glare faded when I saw his baby face, and cute frustrated frown. I found myself unable to reprimand him, as it felt like I would be kicking a puppy if I did.

Sighing, I stilled us. "Malekai, please, don't get so frustrated," I said, smiling at the bumbling lord.

"You just need to relax and move with the beat." I told him smiling gently at him to try and calm his nerves. He didn't seem to calm at all, because I saw Malekai gulp which made giggle. I could see exactly why Vincent always teased Malekai the way that he did, it was just so easy to get a rise out of him.

The two of us kept at this routine for a while, listening to the music and moving to the beat. It wasn't long until I took notice that Lord Malekai was starting to make some progress; he stepped on my toes less, and could keep himself from kicking me in the shins. I smiled at this; it seemed that my advice of moving to the beat had really helped.

"Lord Malekai, I'm impressed. You're really starting to make some progress!" I stated, smiling at him proudly. I could see the bashful look on his face as he looked away, blushing a little. I couldn't help but to giggle. There was no doubt in my mind that Vincent would be very jealous of me by the time that the lesson was over.

I opened my mouth to tell the bashful lord that he should really try and memorize his steps, when I felt someone run into us. I heard glass shatter on the floor, someone grunt and fall over, and my own yelp as we all tumbled to the floor.

I found myself falling away from Malek and more towards the stranger whom had knocked us over. I reached my hands out in front of me to catch myself but felt a sharp pain travel up my arm when I hit the floor. I gasped at this, a tear escaping my eye as I sat up quickly. My fingers wrapped tightly around the wrist of my injured hand, my knuckles turning white.

I flipped my hand over to examine my palm and was horrified too see a fair amount of glass imbedded into my palm. A sigh of pain escaped my mouth when I looked to the floor, seeing the remains of a shattered wine glass, along with a red liquid that I assumed had been the wine in the glass. I looked back at my pin cushion of a hand; it began to sting from the alcohol. I didn't think I could keep myself from crying; it felt like the glass was cutting into my bone, while the alcohol seeped into the cuts and mixed with my blood.

I clenched my eyes shut, holding back tears while gripping my wrist tightly. My dress had been stained by both the wine and the blood; it was a dress of pure white so there was no doubt in my mind that I could never again wear it. I pulled my hand close to my chest. I was trying to get over the pain, gritting my teeth to keep myself from freaking out. However, it seemed that I would not be allowed that pleasure; as the man who had bumped into us muttered a fair amount of obscene language before getting up and proceeding to yell at me.

"Ya stupid brats, I could have broken a hip!" The drunkard yelled, spotting me first. I looked up at the drunkard, astounded at how he could have the gall to blame this all on us. He had been the one stupid and drunk enough to wander onto the dance floor during a dance. He was entirely to blame.

He continued with his rant, not even bothering to take notice to the fact that I had a fair amount of glass in my hand. "You need to watch where you goin you stupid wench!" He yelled. I wanted to kick him in the shin and make him fall unto the shattered wine glass. To give him a real reason to yell at me. However, I held myself back, minding my manners. Even in a situation like this, a proper Victorian lady would keep her cool, mind her manners, and not scream obscenities no matter how much glass was in her hand.

"Look what ya made me do! I dropped my wine! The glass is all over the place!" He growled, glaring at me with contempt.

"And ya don't even say you're sorry?" He yelled at me, causing me flinch. I could tell what kind of madness had affected this poor soul; he displayed his madness with violence. That meant he wouldn't hesitate to harm me if I didn't apologize, even if it was his fault.

"So what're you going to say you little slut!" He asked me

"You think you're so much better than me that you won't even say sorry." He moved towards me, and in response I moved back, scared of the disturbed rage that was in the drunkard's eyes. I was too scared to open my mouth I couldn't form any coherent words.

I tried to spit out that one simple word. "S-s-s-s-ssso-" I wasn't able to finish because someone had moved to stand between me and the drunkard. But what was surprising was it was the baby faced Lord Malekai who stepped up to defend my honor. I was a bit baffled by this, after all the man could hardly dance; so you would think that he wouldn't be able to fight either.

"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to apologize to us. You were th-ahhh!" It was a valiant attempt to stop the drunkard on Malek's behalf, but he had been pushed aside easily. I guess that the bumbling Lord didn't fight either; he was just very brave, and noble.

The drunkard closed in on me quickly after he pushed Malek to the side. The bumbling lord had started to rise and had been about to step between the drunkard and I once more. However, he wasn't quick enough, as the drunkard had already reached out and taken hold of my long golden hair tightly. He proceeded to pull me towards himself forcefully, keeping a tight hold of my hair, pulling me to my feet.

"Say you're sorry!" He screamed at me, his face close to mine. I could smell the wine on his breath, mixed with many other scents, which was far from pleasant.

I attempted to break free from his iron clad grip; it didn't seem like much use. However I didn't have to fight to free myself for long, as he suddenly just let me go. I didn't wait for him to grab at my hair again, because I moved far enough away so that he wouldn't be able to pull at it again. Breathing hard, my heart pounding in my chest, I allowed myself to look back to see what had happened. To see why he had let me go so easily.

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**Comments? Flames? Suggestions? All are welcome...**


	8. Chapter 8 - Holding Back

**Are my chapters getting shorter and shorter? Wow, I'm gonna have to fix that. It should be easier from here on out, as this is the last part that was written previously. The rest of the chapters will be freshly written.**

**Don't let me get lazy, or this story will forever remain incomplete...**

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**Chapter 8 – **

The first thing I saw was the light glint off of golden hair, and a glimpse of familiar yet somehow different red eyes.

The one who had saved me from the drunkard had been none other than Gilgamesh. He was standing there, eyes full of rage and murder, twisting the drunkards hand backwards so that he couldn't grip anything. The drunkard was cursing at Gilgamesh fervently, attempting to bend his whole body backwards to compensate with the odd angle of his hand.

My eyes widened further as I stood there shocked and a little surprised to see the mad man outside of the black room. But the wonderment soon turned to horror, my breath caught in my throat as I stared at him. I found myself scared of the mad man of whom I had spent so much time with. His eyes of which were usually filled with mischief, and fun, were clouded with intense emotion, filled with rage, and murder. My blood ran cold when I saw those eyes; I could barely recognize them as belonging to the fun loving mad man anymore. Instead I saw eyes that belonged to something hideous, eyes that belonged to some sort of monster.

I flinched when Gilgamesh raised his fist, and looked away before I heard the sickening sound of Gilgamesh's fist meeting the skull of the drunkard. I heard the sound a few more times, but I tried not to think of it, instead I stared at the floor, too scared to look my hero in the eyes. Yet, despite how scared I was, despite how much horror that those monstrous eyes had filled me with, I still could not calm my yearning heart.

**...**

I listened to my erratic heartbeat, my face heating, and my breathing increasing. I knew that he was staring at me; I could feel his gaze prickling my skin. Sitting up a little straighter, my spine began tingling from his gaze. I could hear everyone else breathing out in what seemed like a sigh of relief. The music wasn't playing, and there was no merry chatter, just hushed and scandalous whispers. The madness seemed to have fled the room, people returned from whatever madness they had been lost to for the past weeks, and huddled together, all focusing their attention on one thing.

They all close in on me their whispering slowly getting louder. I was bombarded with questions, and comments such as: "Liebe are you alright?" or "My goodness, look at the glass in your hand." Others would ask who the man who had saved me was. But I didn't answer any of their questions, I was still shocked, shocked by the drunkards violent attitude, shocked by the glass in my hand, and most of all shocked by the murderous look that had been in Gilgamesh's eyes. My eyes stayed fixed on the floor, staring at the deep red stains on my dress.

I sat there in my trance for a little while, before feeling strong arms wrap around my body, lifting me off of the floor and carrying me away from the gathering crowd. My eyes widened at this, and my body tensed a little, but my eyes continued to stay trained on my hand.

I recognized the arms, Gilgamesh had picked me up, and he was the one carrying me away from the crowd of gossip hungry vultures. I didn't say anything to the mad man, I was afraid to even look him the eye. I thought about fighting, but I didn't, I just didn't have any fight left in me at the moment. So instead I gripped the wrist of my injured hand as tightly as I could, quite sure that I would leave a bruise. But that really didn't bother me as I was trying to distract myself from the pain of the glass that was currently jabbing at my bones.

I stared at one particularly large piece of glass, one that felt as if it had gone deeper than the rest of the pieces. I let my wrist go, letting out a shaky pained sigh, and with and equally shaky left hand I took hold of the larger piece of glass. I was right handed, so I couldn't take hold of the glass as firmly as I would have liked to, which frustrated me a little. But before I could pull the glass out I felt Gilgamesh set me down on something soft, after which he gently took hold of my left hand and set it on my lap. I frowned at this, but didn't try to move my hand again. I trusted Gilgamesh, despite how much he had scared me just a little while ago. He had the best intentions, I knew that. It wasn't really fair of me to not look him in the eye, and thank him. He scared me, but I still trusted him immensely, maybe even more now that he had kept me from being beaten up by a drunkard.

I watched Gilgamesh's hands as he moved to remove the glass from my hand. He was gentle, which was rather surprising. I would have never thought that the mad man could be so gentle. But once again, I was a poor judge of character when it came to Gilgamesh. He seemed to be good at almost everything. I felt as if I was nothing next to him, as if I couldn't do anything. I had never met anyone like him; I knew nothing of how to act around him. How I could understand this mad man's ways. That thought alone scared me, it caused me to shrink back into myself, seal my lips and stare at anything but his eyes. If he saw my eyes, he would simply know, he would know about my fears. He would be disgusted by my fears, and leave me to brave the horrible madness in the mansion by myself. I couldn't let that happen, I wouldn't survive.

It wasn't that long before Gilgamesh had plucked most of the glass from my hand. He had been so painstakingly thorough about making sure there was absolutely no glass left, before he wrapped my hand with bandages of which I didn't know he had. I didn't voice my concerns about how confused I was about where he had gotten the bandages. He hadn't left my side and I didn't notice him stopping anywhere to take them from someone. Maybe I had just been far to immersed in my own thoughts to see him do it. Besides, that one question wasnt important.

It felt a bit odd to put a muzzle on voicing my thoughts around Gilgamesh. I usually told him everything, I never held anything back. I noticed that Gilgamesh's demeanor had changed, I tensed a little, it was almost as if he could sense that I was holding back with him. His hands lifted to our faces and her gripped the masks we wore, taking them from our faces and place them to the side. His hand then moved so that he could grip my chin, and he lifted it so that he could stare into my eyes. His own deep red eyes reaching into the depths of my own shimmering maroon ones making my breath catch in my throat. I felt him caress my cheek; my fear of him disappeared with his next words.

"You don't need to hold back around me."

After that one instance, I knew without a doubt that I had fallen in love with the madman Gilgamesh. With all of his ridiculous antics, refusal to acknowledge etiquette, and the way I could never seem to find him outside of the black room.

He had all but made me forget about Claudia's death in front of the Ivory clock, and I had gone back to noticing the way it seemed to encourage my continued visits to the room. Before it had protested softly when I entered, now it would cheer when I entered, and let out a strange mourning sound when I moved to leave. I would still glance in the direction of the clock, and think about Claudia. However I no longer cringe at the mere whisper of her name, instead I simply thought about what wonders she could be experiencing now. There was no doubt in my mind that she was causing trouble in the afterlife, with more vigor and enthusiasm now that the restraints of her mortal body were gone.

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**Comments? Suggestions? Flames? All is welcome...**


	9. Chapter 9 - Observing

**Its stupid to be proud of being able to start writing a story again after not writing in it at all for 4 months straight...**

**Call me stupid, go ahead, I don't care...**

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**Chapter 9 - Observing**

The madness of the party was always getting worse, before the mad guests had all kept to themselves, whispering quietly under their breaths and refraining from socializing with anyone at all. It made the party eerily quiet compared to how it had all started out, which always sent my nerves on end. I would always jump whenever I heard silverware crash to the floor, as it would echo throughout the mansion and resound in all of the rooms loudly. It always sounded to me that it was a gunshot, because every time it happened someone would let out a bone chilling scream before running to the blue room and beginning to claw at the doors, shrieking like a banshee.

I really would have never thought that I would come to prefer that eerie silence. However, it was much more bearable compared to the current state of affairs. The guests had stopped keeping to themselves, and instead started to whisper loudly at each other. They had seemed to form small circles where they would hiss to each other continuously until their voices started to crack. The silence evolved into hissing, and it started to sound as if we were in a pit of snakes.

There were also those who seemed to have formed their own communities of which they grouped together and displayed their odd quirks in a disturbing manner. Whatever semblance of sanity that had reached them for a few moments when they were questioning Liebe had all but disappeared now they had taken some of the traits from their sanity and combined it with their madness. The fleeting moment of sanity seemed to have caused more harm than good, as the guests who grouped together always turned out to be very violent. They would push each other around the rooms, throw glass on the floor and move to steal shoes from those who weren't able to resist them. They put strange things into the food that caused many to be unable to hold it down. They screamed in some people's ears until the poor victim finally cracked and joined them in their screams, however as soon as the victim joined in on the screams the group would take hold of that person and whisl them away somewhere to never be seen again. They caused chaos on a level that was close to deadly. Their screams of joy and disturbing laughter echoed throughout the mansion until it seemed to warp into something sinister. There was no blocking it out, as they were the only thing you could hear.

If I had not already gotten so used to the madness, those sounds would have driven me over the edge.

...

When the musicians at the party had stopped playing their music was beyond me. I never noticed the lack of music until much later after the drunkard had attacked me. At first I was grateful for the fact that it had stopped, but I soon realized that having constant neverending music was much better than what it had started to become, the music had slowly started getting disjointed, disharmonized and maddening. It would seem that not even the servants who had kept the party alive were immune to the maddening effects of the mansion. The musicians had stopped being able to play together, and instead, they sat separate with their instruments, continuously cleaning them, as if washing of something we couldn't seem to see. The cooks had started making food that tasted as if they put poison in it, and took on shapes that resembled guillotines, guns, tree stumps, and skulls. The people who had kept the floors clean still kept the floors clean; however, they cleaned the floors to an extent that if you weren't careful you would slip and fall onto the glass that the mad group of guests made sure was always on the floor.

After the incident with the drunkard and my chat with Gilgamesh I found myself truly grateful for the fact that I could stay with the small group of sane people left. I was quite sure that if I was the only one left, that I would have killed myself in the white room, just to stain the white a permanent crimson with my blood.

At one time I voiced this thought with the small group of sane guest left, and elicited a rare burst of laughter. It lightened our moods and seemed to allow us to move on to cheery topics of conversation. However when I mentioned it to Gilgamesh he fell silent, before glaring at me with such intensity before he stood and began berating me for even thinking about killing myself. It softened my heart a little to know that Gilgamesh cared about whether or not I lived. Although why I had ever thought he didn't care was beyond me. Billy had been right, I really am thick.

At one point or another I had tried to convince my small group to come with me into the black room. I told them that it truly was much better than staying with the guests who would form a circle around you and begin screaming in your ear. They had all gone silent at my proposal and instead they all started to talk about moving into the green room. I couldn't quite understand why they were all so hesitant to go into the black room. It was the only place in the entire manor that hadn't submerged itself in madness. It had remained the same, and would no doubt put their minds at ease, no matter how frightening it was. They might not be able to sit in the room at first, but eventually they would notice just how unchanging, stable, and sane that room really was. Although, maybe I was mistaken, maybe the black room only welcomed me?

Eventually my small group had moved to claim the green room for ourselves, chasing out those who displayed madness. We moved in like strange soldiers scaring off the mad guests who had been in there before. We made our own little haven, where we stayed and protected as if our lives depended on it.

At some point we gathered a few servants who had remained sane, a few musicians, dancers and cooks. We brought them into the green room were we allowed ourselves a more modest party, one that was nothing like prince Prospero's Party, but more along the lines of a proper English party, with modest dancing, simple attire, and sanity.

It really was strange just how few people had maintained their sanity. It made me question sanity in the first place. Or more specifically, it made me question whether or not our small group ever had any. I looked at those who were there, Leben, Laune, Malakai, Vincent, Whitney, Lexington, Billy, Leliana, and a few other guests whom I had been close acquaintances at one point or another. It really was rather strange; I knew most of these people. Why had they not been affected? What was different about them?

**...**

Apparently the fact that most of "my" friends had retained their sanity wasn't only noted by me. While most of them remained oblivious, Leliana and Gilgamesh were always aware of what was going on. After meeting my little group for the first time Gilgamesh had already deduced many things about it. Gilgamesh tended to bring up the fact that most of the people were close to me, and stated how it meant that I had a grounding aura about me. I paid no heed to that comment, and instead thought of it as a mad man's ramblings. Although I did have one question of which I wished to have his opinion on.

"If the one thing all of these people have in common is that they are close to me, then why is it that Leliana is still sane? The two of us can't stand each other after all?" My tone came across a bit accusingly and maybe a bit condescending, I wanted to point out the flaw in his logic. Although I soon regretted trying to outwit him, he may be a madman with little to know logic in his speech at all, but he was still rather clever and knew what to say to make me feel silly.

"Why it's simple Lovely Liebe?" He stated making a grand gesture with his arms to make it seem like the thing he was saying was a revolutionary idea. "Leliana is of royal blood, she was raised to lead people. Therefore she has the kind of will that cannot be broken simply by a few shadows and screaming guests?" Just as soon as he was done saying this, he grabbed my hand and proceeded to elaborate. "You and the princess are much more alike than either of you would like to admit." After which he kissed my hand and left me to mull over my own thoughts.

While Leliana, nothing was really different about her. She glared at me, avoided me, yet was always somewhere nearby in the green room. She tended to stare quite a bit at me; well she tended to GLARE at me. I tried not to pay much attention to her. Although I did become exceedingly curious about her after hearing Gilgamesh's opinion, which was silly since he is a mad man.

**…**

Even though I would deny it if you asked me, I did take it upon myself to become more acquainted with the Dragon Princess. I took my time getting closer to her, even though it was both painful and unpleasant for me as well as for her. Neither of us really appreciated the others company or really knew how to go about being pleasant to one another. We usually ended up bickering between one another like children. Resorting to things like name calling and pulling of hair. No one ever stepped in to intervene with our little tiffs; instead we were simply watched with much amusement. It baffled both of us; however neither of us would ever admit that aloud being that we seemed to have an unreasonable sense of pride when it came to one another.

No matter how much we denied how much the two of us actually did for our little group, Leliana and I ultimately always had one thing that we always kept in mind. We wanted to keep the small group of sane people who stayed in the green room, sane. Whatever problems we had with each other we always had a sort of mutual agreement, they came first, while we came second. We could argue all we wanted, so long as if didn't cause any trouble for the rest of the people who now took shelter in the green room. After all we didn't want to have to rely on only each other for any sanity.

That however didn't seem to stop the Dragon Princess from laying blame entirely on me. Somehow, she got the idea that the madness that afflicted the other guests was entirely my fault. It didn't make any sense what so ever, that simple fact however didn't seem to hinder the dear Princess at all, as she confronted me about it when we were alone.

"I really have no idea how you did it, but don't think that you can make me go mad like the rest of those weak minded fools." Her statements always left me confused and a little off put. For one, how would I drive so many people mad? As well as, "why" would I drive so many people insane?

"Excuse me?" I asked, hoping that maybe she was just blowing off steam and didn't actually mean anything she was saying. Truthfully I was a little bit afraid that she too had gone mad.

Leliana shook her head as if I were the most exhausting person alive, which was rather funny because I had held back the urge to repeat the action to her earlier. "Do not be coy with me Dear Liebe; you know perfectly well what I am referring to." She hissed, her tone suggesting that this was something conspiratol. I held my breath for a little while staring at her sincere eyes, meeting her glare with complete understanding. The Dragon Princess really thought that I was responsible for all of this?

"Why on earth would you think I was responsible for all of this?" I whispered back, my usual harsh tone bleeding through into my voice. I berated myself mentally for that. I wanted to make my voice softer to reason with Leliana. However I just couldn't do it, the dragon Princess simply brought out the worst in me of which I simply could not hold back.

Sneering Leliana stepped closer, her nose nearly touching mine as she got into my face. "Why else would you not be affected?" She asked of me. "Why else would all those who are close to you stayed sane? Why would you be visiting the black room so much, when not even I can stand to set a single foot in there?!" I could see her hand itching towards her sword. Instinctively I backed up.

"Leliana, I'm not responsible for any of this? I wouldn't make an entire mansion go mad, especially not when I too would have to spend the time of 6 months within its walls!" I hand my hands behind my back, as allowed the Dragon Princess to proceed to move on me. I backed up until I was against the wall, my hand resting on a decorative sword. I felt as if I needed to make sure that I could defend myself by the way Leliana was looking at me.

"Lies! You and your siblings all have a weird nature about you! Especially you, with your strange name, and the rumors of your infatuation with death!" I flinched as her tone became accusing, she looked positively demonic, as she hissed her suspicions at me. I knew without a doubt that she truly believed every word of what she was saying.

"You would drive us all mad and allow us to kill each other off while you dance in the black room with a corpse, and soak your skirts in our blood!" I watched her as she unsheathed the sword at her waist, as I pulled up the heavy decoration that had been behind me keeping her from burying that blade into my chest.

She lunged at me with vigor, and obvious strength of a warrior who had fought many battles, and killed many men. I found myself having to use my entire body just to hold her at bay. I knew for a fact that my meager fencing lessons would do me no good here. Not when the blades we were using were of heavy metal and bulky shape unlike the thin metal of my foil.

"I will tell you right now, that I will not allow your silly flirtations with death destroy us all. I'll kill you right here and now so that the spell you placed upon this mansion lifts, and you may meet your beloved in the depths of hell!" I felt her ease up on me before come right back again to try and strike me in a different way.

* * *

**Comments? Suggestions? Flames? All is welcome...**


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